The Shadow At Your Feet
by YARNfics
Summary: Sora was always good at making friends, even with the boy in the mask studying Sora every time he came. When the masked boy gave Sora power, he took his memories, and left Sora unknowing of what he could be. And while the ripples of that one choice that Vanitas made never afftected Sora's destiny, it had greater implications for Sora's friends.
1. Chapter 1

**I have no idea why I made this, honestly.**

**All credit to respective owners!**

* * *

"What's you're name?" The masked boy inquired the first time he met The Brat.

"Sora!" He replied cheerily, "Hey... Are you from another world?"

The masked boy seems a bit surprised at The Brat's inquiry but nods, "Yeah."

"That's awesome!" The Brat cheered, eyes bright and smile wide.

Vanitus stared down at the young boy of four, wondering if this boy even had a darkness in his heart. Vanitus was darkness, he was moulded from it, ripped in existence by Master Xehanort and following him like a lost puppy. In staring at him, he could see the way his light was so bright, so pure.

It should've been annoying, it should've have made Vanitus sick to have to see such a untouched beacon of light.

But all Vanitus felt was... whole and for once in his life, at peace.

The aching emptiness that constantly gnawed at him since his separation from Ventus seemed to ebb away as he stood next to this small, annoying brat. It should have worried him, it should have made him angry.

But he just wasn't.

* * *

When Vanitus wasn't observing Ventus, gauging Aqua, or watching the darkness growing in Terra, he often found himself sitting on the beach with the brown-haired brat. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn't, sometime they fought with wooden swords, and sometimes they played stupid games. Vanitus wondered one time how The Brat managed to convince him to build a sandcastle halfway after they started making towers with damp sand. One time, The Brat was laying on the sand and staring at the clouds while Vanitus was sitting up and idly picking up a handful of sand and letting them slip out of his grasp and back onto the beach.

It was peaceful here.

"What are the other worlds like?" The Brat asked out of the blue.

"Different." Vanitus simply replied.

"I know THAT." came The Brat's irritated reply, "But how are they different?"

"It varies kid." Vanitus specified.

"Varies?" The Brat frowned at the unfamiliar word.

"Some are pretty weird," Vanitus expanded, "Some aren't too different."

"Oh. Okay!" The Brat chirped, "Riku wants to go to the outside worlds one day, it sounds like fun! I want to go with him, when we leave, we'll all be together and have adventures that are will be so cool!"

Vanitus eyed the eager look on The Brat's face and snorted.

"What?" The Brat said, looking indignant.

"Nothing brat." Vanitus chuckled, "You just remind me of someone who's pretty stupid about following his friends too."

"Hey!" The Brat yelled, affronted.

* * *

Vanitus had goaded Ventus in leaving for the keyblade graveyard and sighed in accomplishment.

He was going to be whole.

"Finally."

"Hey! Found you again!" The Brat said as he ran up and hugged Vanitus in a way of greeting.

Vanitus was flabbergasted at The Brat.

"You want to hang out with me again?" The Brat asked eagerly, "I met another person from the outside worlds and I can tell you about her!"

"Sorry. I can't today." Vanitus said, wondering why in the hell he was apologizing in the first place.

"Hey..." The Brat realized, "I never got your name!"

Vanitus looked at The Brat and sighed, "It's not important brat. I am about to leave and probably won't come back."

The Brat looked honestly crestfallen at that, "Oh... Goodbye."

Vanitus didn't understand why he did what he did next, but knelt down to The Brat's level and called his keyblade to his hand and wrapped the The Brat's hand around it.

"The outside worlds can be dangerous. So maybe you need a weapon better than your stupid toy wooden sword... _In your hand, take this Key..._"

* * *

Sora watched from the ground as the masked boy walked off into a dark portal. The boy had rapped his knuckles lightly on Sora's head after he made Sora hold that key and Sora head felt fuzzy and muddled. The boy caught Sora and laid him out on the beach before waving his hand and opening the portal.

"_The name's Vanitus brat. There are a lot of worlds to see and a lot of people out there and some are good and some are bad. I don't know why or how you made it so I care, but I want you to be safe. This is goodbye for a good long while, maybe forever. You don't need to remember any of this, but I want to. You remind me way too much of Ventus, and maybe that's not too bad."_

Sora's eyes slipped closed and when Riku found him and woke him up, he never remembered the masked boy or his last words.

"_Goodbye and thank you. Sora."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Before you all get too excited, I wasn't intending to even write another chapter, but it just wouldn't leave me alone!**

**All credit to respective owners!**

**-Y.A.R.N.**

* * *

When Ventus had succumbed to sleep in the depths of Sora's heart, he didn't know what to do when he found the sleeping power of a keyblade waiting to be used in Sora's heart. Who passed it to him? Why Sora? Was this fate that Sora had a keyblade and had accepted Ventus into his heart to be safe? Was this because of Ventus himself? When Ventus reached out and when he touched the power emanating from the not-quite-ready inheritance, he snapped into awareness. He saw things through Sora's eyes and felt the same things that he felt, and if he tried he was sure he could talk to Sora if he simply reached out.

So he did.

* * *

Sora's dream was really nice, he was sitting on the sand of the island and idly watching the waves lap at his ankles and sunlight warm his skin.

"It's nice here." A voice commented.

Sora yelped and turned around to see a blonde-spiky-haired teen looking at the ocean, a soft smile on his face. He seemed to look out to the horizon why the sea met the sky, as if it were one of the most interesting things he had seen.

Sora stared at the teen and tilted his head, "Who are you?"

The teen smiled and meandered over to Sora's side to sit next to him, "My name's Ventus. Or you can call me Ven. That's what my friends call me."

"Ventus... Ven." Sora sounded out before smiling, "Alright Ven! My name's Sora! It's nice to meet you!"

Ventus looked at Sora and looked at his spiky brown hair, blue eyes, his childish features, and was reminded of Vanitas if Vanitas was a toddler. The one thing that didn't remind him of Vantius was the bright and friendly smile that Sora eagerly gave and the light of his heart.

Ven may have been damaged and broken, but with Sora?

He felt peace.

* * *

Sora grew older as time went on and his friendship to Ven graduated to the same level of friendship he shared with Riku, a brother in all but blood. Ventus found himself enjoying the simple life Sora led, the racing and fights that Sora often engaged with when he was playing with Riku. He felt Sora's contentment and It went a long way to keep Ventus happy as well despite the worries he had. When Sora confided in Riku about Ventus - making sure he had Ven's permission —he was a bit worried. Sora's mother and father laughed off his mentions of Ven as an imaginary friend, and other children would say he was too old for that.

Riku — much to Sora's relief — smiled and told Sora, "I believe you."

Ventus smiled at Riku, though he may not have been able to speak to Riku, he knew Sora had a true friend with him.

It was then that Ventus could feel the same glow of a keyblade waiting within Riku.

* * *

Sora was dreaming with Ven when Ven decided to show Sora his Keyblade. Ventus knew that Sora had a target painted on him due to the keyblade waiting with him, and wanted to at least let Sora have some knowledge of how to defend himself. He didn't want Sora to be hurt, not when Ven could contribute in some small way to protect him. Sora stared in awe at Wayward Wind, but something was different about it. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Sora was sure that he had seen one of these before but...

When Ven let Sora hold it, Ven couldn't help laughing at how Sora was trying to hold it like a normal sword, "Sora, thats not right. It's a reverse blade."

Sora pouted at Ventus laughing at him before deciding to move on past that, "Oh... Then do I have to use it like you do?"

Ventus shook his head, "No, Wayward Wind is more my style, I think I have another that maybe would be more suited to how you fight..."

Wayward Wind dissolved into light and instead Lost Memory formed back in Ventus' hand. Ven frowned at the memory of how he had suddenly found this keyblade in his hand when he was departing for the Keyblade Graveyard, but shook off the feeling. He handed the keyblade to Sora, who held it reverently.

Ven then began to teach Sora, and every night they practiced Sora grew stronger and stronger.

* * *

Sora looked at the stained glass platform below him and looked around in confusion, usually when he dreamed he was with Ven on the island, not on a stained glass image of a beautiful woman in a blue and yellow dress.

"Ven?!" He shouted, "Ventus are you here?!"

Ventus immediately responded, _"Sora. It's okay. Remember how we were practicing with my keyblades? This is just to make sure that you get your own. Don't be afraid. Step forward and know that I got your back, okay? You have to make the choices alone but know you have my support."_

Sora nodded, infinitely calmed by Ven's steady support, "Okay..."

Sora walked to the middle of the platform and flinched when three stone plinths grew out of the floor and a three keyblades all burst into light around him. He stared at the weapons and even Ventus was surprised by the choices, having keyblades as the choices were unusual. His eyes landed on the last one and he froze.

'It can't be.' Ventus' mind screamed, 'I thought Aqua or Terra might've been the one to pass it on! It can't be!'

**"**_**Oathkeeper... A promise to be there for those you love, to follow your bonds to the people who love you. However, in saving others, one may lose how to look after oneself and make reckless decisions to save others."**_

**"_Oblivion... A way pursue the power and do anything to save those you care for. However in the pursuit of the power to protect, you may lose sight of the best course of action for those you love."_**

**"_Void Gear... A weapon that originally belonged to the remnant of your predecessor. He may have used his power to destroy and harm, but power's nature is based on what you choose it to be; to protect who you care or lay ruin to your enemies."_**

Sora felt Ventus' shock and horror at the last keyblade and Ventus beginning to whisper, _"It can't be... Why him?! Why would he pass on the keyblade to you?! It can't have! Vantias can't have been the one to give you the keyblade!"_

The keyblade wasn't the exact same as the one Ventus had the fought the user of, but even with the monochrome coloration, there was no mistake what Void Gear was, who it once belonged to.

Sora cringed, he had never heard Ventus sound so... horrified, "Ven?"

Ventus was silent and took several deep breaths, "Im sorry. Its nothing. Just... I knew the user of Void Gear... he was not someone I like to think about. I was just surprised."

Ventus cursed at himself, he should have kept himself in check, his outburst led to Sora now being very uncomfortable with the sight of Void Gear. He was interfering with Sora's dive to the heart, he was possibly ruining Sora's choice in keyblade!

Sora looked to the plinths and took a deep breath before he made his decision.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you all enjoy!**

**Credit to respective owners!**

**-Y.A.R.N.**

* * *

Ventus tried not to sigh in relief as Sora resolutely picked Oathkeeper over the other two keyblades and made his way through his dive with the skills that Ven had been drilling in him over the course of his training. Ven was proud of how well Sora was doing but nearly panicked as a massive Heartless materialized from Sora's shadow and Sora got into his ready stance. As the battle progressed, it took everything Ven had not to dive in with Wayward Wind and aid Sora. Ventus had fully expected for Sora to call out to him, but Sora remained silent and focused on his enemy. When the Darkside fell on top of Sora, the dive ended and Ventus was shunted back into the Islands of Sora's heart on his back as Sora was jerked awake by his friend Kairi waking him up.

'Ven?' Sora queried as he made his way home after playing on the island.

'I'm here.' Ventus replied, 'Don't worry.'

Sora sighed in relief and looked at his hand, 'So what was that about?'

Ventus gave Sora a brief overview of what a Dive to the Heart was and how it allowed Sora to access his keyblade. Sora nodded enthusiastically and held out his hand, imagining the keyblade in his dream. In a flash of light, Oathkeeper glimmered into existence and Sora stared in awe at the glimmering edge that glowed in the light of the setting sun.

"Wow..." He whispered, "Ven... is this..?"

'Congratulations Sora,' Ven said softly, voice filled with pride, 'You're officially a keyblade wielder.'

Sora smiled brightly.

* * *

Ventus would have leapt at the man in the robe and stabbed him in the face as he recognized that condescending tone anywhere. Regardless, he had no current body and he was sure that Sora wasn't ready for a fight of that caliber quite yet. Xehanort wasn't just some heartless or unversed, he was one of the strongest keyblade MASTERS that had been. Sora argued and told the man that he didn't care what the man thought and that he was going to the outside world and see everything.

When the master left, all Ventus could feel was trepidation for the future and fear at what could have happened while he had been with Sora.

* * *

Ventus hadn't exactly been pleased with Sora leaving his house in the middle of the night to try to bring a raft to safety, but once Sora set his mind to something, he was more headstrong than Ven usually was. Sora managed to lash his boat to the small deck on the island only to gasp in shock as heartless began to manifest and twitch towards him.

'Sora!' Ven commanded, 'Your keyblade!'

Sora jolted out of his shock and immediately summoned Oathkeeper as the shadows leapt at him. Sora slashed through the heartless and beat them back, evaporating the creatures into poofs of misty shadows. Sora stared at the glowing and crackling orb in the sky while even Ven couldn't help but watch in horror at what was happening. He told Sora that he had to find a way to get to shelter, to save himself, but Sora refused.

"I need to find Kairi and Riku first!" He shouted.

Sora struggled against the unending tides of heartless as he made his way to his and Riku's favored sparring ground, where he saw a familiar head of silver hair.

"The door has opened..." Riku said as he stared at the sky while Sora approached.

Ven was already aware of how Riku seemed to become obsessed with escaping this world, and his worry spiked when Riku proclaimed to not be afraid of the darkness. Ven struggled, wanting to say something — anything — to try to reach Sora's friend, but darkness erupted from the two boy's feet and Sora desperately tried to reach Riku, only for a burst of light coming from Oathkeeper to stave off the overwhelming darkness and leave Sora alone.

Sora despaired but had no time to mourn as the shadows once again began to attack. Listening to Ventus' urging to find shelter, he dashed to the secret place only to see Kairi looking sad and tired as she uttered a pained, "Sora..."

Sora tried to catch her as the door behind flew open in a burst of darkness but Kairi seemed to vanish and fade as Sora threw his arms out. The gale of the darkness seemed to be simply too strong and Sora was flung out of the secret place and onto a small sand platform which was all that remained of his home.

'Sora!' Ven shouted, 'Watch out!'

Sora saw the Darkside form and gulped audibly.

Bad enough he had fought it in his dreams, now he had to deal with thing in real life while his home was gone?

'You can do this Sora.' Ven assured, 'I'm with you.'

Sora's resolve hardened and he shifted into a ready stance.

He's got this.


	4. Chapter 4

**All credit to respective owners!**

**-YARN**

* * *

Traverse Town was not really a world that Ven was too familiar with, despite the fact that it seemed to be a refuge for those who had lost their worlds. Ven inwardly berated himself for not being there to help, to stop the world from falling into darkness. Sora felt Ven's irritation but didn't want to bother him about it, sometimes Ven would be mad at himself for something and would only tell Sora when he was ready. In the meantime, Sora wandered the districts, trying to see if maybe Riku or Kairi was in the area.

Ven felt as though he wasn't the only entity that rested within Sora now — he never really did seeing as Sora was carrying his heart and they were always at each other's side, had bonds that travelled deeper than literally anyone else, and apparently VANITAS of all people passed his keyblade to Sora — he felt another presence within Sora's heart and all he could really tell that it was bright. Almost as bright as a keyblade wielder who had been training for some time. The only thing was the heart was almost comatose within Sora's, almost the same way that Ven was before touching Sora's power 'woke' him up. In light of that, Ven decided it was best he didn't bother Sora about it or mess with the heart that hid within his.

In his opinion there really was no better place for a heart to be safe in than within Sora's.

* * *

Ven seethed at the man who attacked Sora and wished desperately that he could be there, fight the man off and help his apprentice/little-brother/friend.

Because Sora, for all his training and determination, wasn't going to be able to beat this guy yet. Sora's growth was phenomenal, his heart was strong, and his determination was maybe even stronger than Ven's.

But there were some things that no amount of bravery and raw talent could overcome.

He was putting up a very good fight — and Ven couldn't be prouder — but this guy was way too skilled and far more developed in his power for Sora to beat. This guy even had magic and Ventus inwardly groaned at the lapse in Sora's training.

In all fairness, Sora barely had enough time actually using his own keyblade after realizing it so Ven had wanted Sora to fully get used to handling Oathkeeper before going into basic spells.

Either way, Ven could tell Sora was exhausting fast, his swings were slowing and his breath coming in sharp pants. Even Ventus' stream of encouragement and coaching was just not enough to close the gap and Sora was beginning to feel like even raising his keyblade was hard.

'Ven...' Sora panicked, 'He's too strong!'

Ven steeled himself to try something new, he didn't know if it would work, but he'd be damned if he didn't do anything, 'Then let's see if I can even it up a bit.'

Ven took a metaphorical deep breath and closed his eyes, he may not have had a body, but he still was a keyblade wielder and his heart had power. Sora gasped as and unfamiliar but soothing tingle of energy traveled through his body. Sora's body began to smoke as his temperature began to rise and the air around him shimmered and gained a faint orange hue. The man's eyes widened as he took an uncertain step back at the heat now emanating from Sora. Sora body exploded with flame as Firestorm swirled around him and his keyblade and suffused his body with power.

"Ven?" Sora whispered.

'Can't... hold... this!' Ven warned, voice strained as though he was trying to push an immovable wall, 'One... hit! All or... nothing!"

Sora nodded and ran at the man before leaping and bring his keyblade down with a roar. The man was stunned but moved to fully block the unexpected attack with his massive gunblade. Their weapons met with a flash of orange as fire raged from Sora's keyblade and washed over the district and the two combatants. Sora landed away and took a couple of unsteady steps back as the man fell to one knee. Sora body felt disgustingly weak as the power Ven had channeled into him rapidly dwindled away and Ven voice was unintelligible white noise against exhaustion now turning Sora's limbs into uncooperative hunks of meat.

"Now you're gonna... you're gonna..." Sora tried to say something intmidating before his eyes finally shut and he collapsed onto his back.

His last thought was a weak apology at Ventus panicked cries of his name.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay guys so a quick about the 'Void Gear keyblade should now be Sora's' topic. Here's the thing, if I went by that logic, Riku should have been given Earthshaker, and Kairi should have gotten Rainfell. Whoever passes on the keyblade doesn't dictate what keyblade you get later, it simply grants you A KEYBLADE. Void Gear was there to highlight that is was Vanitas who passed Sora the power, clueing Ven in. Why Sora chose Oathkeeper is because Sora would go to the ends of the universe and back for the people he cares about, and he's reckless to the point of insanity, as Master Yen Sid pointed out to Riku in KH2.9 — 3 when they were talking about rescuing Aqua. Another thing. These are small snippets when it comes to a story. There won't be much fleshing out for the characters. My usual set limit for a chapter is 3,000 words, I only go over or under if I feel like it be stupid to cut off a story there or it's at a point I wanted to stop at, these average at about 600 - 700 words per chap.**

**-YARN**

**P.S. All credit to respective owners!**

* * *

Ventus was panicking as he couldn't see anything that was going on after Sora passed out.

What if they imprisoned him?

What if they delivered him to any of the dark powers that wanted to enslave keyblade wielders?

What if they killed him?

Ventus closed his eyes and focused, activating Firestorm was hard, more difficult than he could imagine.

But it could be done.

Maybe he could possess Sora and escape? The idea left a bad taste in his mouth, but it wasn't outside the realm of possibility or something that was to be dismissed. He could activate Firestorm within Sora, which meant he had the ability to grant Sora abilities that he had gathered over the course of his travels. He didn't like the idea of taking over Sora's body, but if he didn't do something, Sora could be hurt. He tried to move and control Sora's body but it was just not enough, Sora MAY have twitched, but while he was unconscious (not asleep), Ventus simply couldn't do anything to help his little brother.

* * *

When Sora woke up and thought he saw Kairi, Ventus felt the other presence in Sora's heart shift in response, as though responding to Sora's imagination. A sneaking suspicion entered Ventus' head, but he decided to keep it to himself for the moment. As much as he wanted to be right and assure Sora that Kairi's heart was safe, he wanted to make exactly sure he was right. Besides, even if Sora knew, it wasn't as though they could do anything until they located Kairi's body. With that decision made, he listened carefully to Leon and Yuffie explaining the situation and was horrified to hear that worlds were vanishing into darkness and that there was no one trying to stop it.

'Ask if there is a Master Aqua or Wielder named Terra anywhere!' He pleaded, 'They wouldn't just stand by while this was happening!'

"Are there any keyblade users beside me?" Sora queried obediently, "Like someone named Aqua or Terra?"

"Not that we know of." Leon replied shortly.

Ventus despaired at the matter-of-fact response.

* * *

Leon said they should take a break while their companion was talking with some other visitors.

Sora was quiet as he felt Ventus' sorrow, 'Ven?'

'Yes?' Ven responded trying to shake off his depression at realizing there was no news of his friends.

'Who are Aqua and Terra?' Sora asked quietly.

'They're my best friends and fellow keyblade wielders.' Ventus replied sadly, 'Before, we all were practicing to become masters and Aqua and Terra were ready to take The Mark of Mastery Exam. Aqua passed and was named a master, but Terra failed and left on his own in order to control his darkness. I followed him because I didn't want to be left behind and we all went on separate adventures through the worlds. When we finally reached the end of that journey, we got involved in a battle that seemed to be getting worse and worse. I destroyed my dark half and damaged my heart in the hopes of saving Terra and Aqua... but hearing they aren't here... Did I fail?'

'Don't worry Ven!' Sora immediately said, 'I am sure they are out there! We just have to find them! There is no way they would have let you fight and sacrifice so much for nothing!'

Ven couldn't help but smile at Sora's optimism, 'You're right! Fighting Vanitas wasn't for nothing!'

Sora frowned, 'Ven... Why does that name sound so familiar? You mentioned him during my Dive to The Heart, and now again. I feel like I should know him, but I'm pretty sure I know everybody on the island and so far no one I met seems to be this Vanitas guy...'

Ven took a deep breath, 'I didn't want to say anything until later but I guess I should tell you a bit... Vanitas... he was my dark half. Before I trained under a Master named Eraqus, I was training under a keyblade Master named Xehanort. He wanted me to use the darkness in my heart to fight to form some sort of X-blade, but I refused. So he took his keyblade and forcefully extracted the darkness in me. That darkness took the form and name of a boy named Vanitus... he looked just like you Sora.' Ven explained, 'I don't know if it is correct or true, but I think Vanitas was the one who performed the inheritance ceremony with you.'

'An inheritance ceremony?' Sora prompted.

'A inheritance ceremony,' Ven said, 'is done to give the intended person the ability to use a keyblade as well as a keyblade of their own one day. That's why you can use Oathkeeper after your dive. You technically had the ability to choose between those three you saw before. The Black and White one with chains was a black and white version of Vanitas' keyblade, Void Gear. I recognized it and couldn't understand why it was there so I just made my best guess as to why it was there.'

Sora nodded, digesting this new information, 'But why me? Why would he give it to me?'

Ventus sighed, 'That's what I don't know Sora. I have no idea why he would give you a keyblade. It was before I came into your heart, because by the time I arrived, you already had the inheritance waiting for you to need it. But it doesn't matter, not to me. I'm glad you have a keyblade Sora, I am glad to have you be the one who saved me. I'm proud to be your friend Sora. Never forget that!'

Sora smiled, 'Okay Ven. I promise.'

* * *

The heartless appeared immediately after Leon said they were going to meet the other visitors, forcing them to get out of the building and retreat. Leon told them to ignore the multiple small heartless and instead focus on finding the boss. Sora nodded and made his way from The Waterway to The Third District, only to flinch when and explosion reached his ears and two separate weights crashed into his back and knocked him over with a loud cry.


End file.
